Thursday dinner: Freezer bounty and a story

I cooked all week, so last night it was time to mine the freezer and see what delights it would provide. In the event, it was the same thing we had from the freezer the last time I did this (though not from the same batch, I promise): red lentil coconut curry.

Microwave, basmati rice, yummy, if un-photogenic, dinner.

So I will tell you a story instead, so you don't feel swindled by today's post.

Mabel's school is a co-operative nursery school, which means it's run by the parents, and most families choose to help out in the classroom one or two days a month. This is a win/win, as far as I'm concerned, because, especially when it's your child's first regular out-of-the-home experience, you really want to stay connected, and informed about what they do all day. And two- and three-year-olds aren't the most reliable of reporters, so asking them what happened at school today does not always elicit factual statements. (Not that five-year-olds are any better. Dash's stock answer to how school was today - already - is a taciturn "Fine.") This way, you have the fun of seeing your child interact with others in a new environment, you help ensure that the child to adult ratio is nice and low (we usually have a ratio of less than four to one in Mabel's classroom), and you get a feel for what exactly they do all morning, as well as getting to know other parents and the staff better than you could any other way.

There are some disadvantages too, but this really wasn't meant to be a dissertation on the pros and cons of co-op schools. My point was that one day a few weeks ago, B was the co-opping parent and I enjoyed a leisurely morning at home. At midday, he and Mabel returned. Somewhat hassled, he plonked a few things on the sideboard before going back out to the car for Mabel, among them a baby doll that had been under his uxter. (That's his armpit, if you don't know.)
"I don't know why this was in the car," he commented.
"Neither do I," I said, taking a quick look at the doll, "considering that's one of the school's babies."

Mabel stoutly denied having smuggled a baby out of school, and B said he hadn't seen her with it. The mystery persisted.

That afternoon we had to go by the school anyway, so I brought the baby back, and one of the teachers enlightened me. "I saw your husband leaving with it under his arm. I did wonder what he was doing..."